A cream that blocks allergic substances from entering the nose seems to reduce symptoms in patients with hay fever, new research shows. The cream, known as Alergol, is applied inside the lower nose where it traps these substances.

Dr. Alexandre Grigorov, at Humboldt University in Berlin, and colleagues conducted a study involving 91 patients, who were randomly assigned to apply Alergol or an inactive “placebo” cream to the lower nose region four times daily for four days. Before and after each treatment, the subjects were exposed to extracts of pollen, house dust and animal dander.

The findings appear in the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Treatment with Alergol greatly reduced the drop in airflow that occurred with exposure to the allergic substances. In addition, use of this cream produced a marked drop in symptoms. By comparison, the placebo cream had much more modest effects.

“This objective assessment clearly demonstrated that Alergol pollen blocker cream is a safe and effective alternative to the drugs normally prescribed for (hay fever),” Grigorov’s team concludes.

SOURCE: Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, August 2004.